Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Trading Up 8.1% – Still a Buy?

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)’s share price was up 8.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $21.83 and last traded at $21.8650. Approximately 3,274,881 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 5,577,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Baird R W lowered Bath & Body Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group lowered Bath & Body Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $38.00 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, New Street Research set a $26.00 price target on Bath & Body Works in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.75.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.88.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 47.35% and a net margin of 9.50%.The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Bath & Body Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.870- EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.700- EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 24.62%.

Insider Transactions at Bath & Body Works

In other news, Director Steven E. Voskuil acquired 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.04 per share, with a total value of $300,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 33,925 shares in the company, valued at $510,232. This trade represents a 143.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Francis Hondal bought 3,343 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.99 per share, with a total value of $50,111.57. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $323,094.46. This trade represents a 18.36% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased 33,513 shares of company stock worth $500,442 in the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,292,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 53.5% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 58,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 20,381 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 11.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,080,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,120,000 after buying an additional 733,000 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 126.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 271,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,141,000 after buying an additional 151,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GMT Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 8.8% during the second quarter. GMT Capital Corp now owns 4,067,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,847,000 after buying an additional 329,300 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a leading specialty retailer focused on personal care, home fragrance and complementary products. Through its flagship Bath & Body Works brand, the company offers a diverse assortment of shower gels, lotions, fragrance mists, candles and home fragrance items. Its product portfolio also includes the White Barn Candle Co range of premium scented candles and diffusers. Bath & Body Works serves consumers through a combination of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, delivering seasonal collections, limited-edition releases and signature scent lines.

Founded in 1990 as part of Limited Brands (now L Brands), Bath & Body Works opened its first store in New Albany, Ohio, and quickly expanded across the United States.